Missed our conservation webinar? We’ve compiled an easy-to-read summary to get you caught up on all this conservation and YES.
South Africa is proud of the abundant natural resources, heritage sites and rich history we possess, and must protect. Global research shows that conservation activities represent one of the highest impact job creation opportunities in all countries – and falls within the green economy. Read our blog about green jobs here.
There is also increasing importance being placed on environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and the United Nations’ (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by global investors and consumers. Between the advent of ESG investment indices and the rise of the intelligent consumer, many are choosing where and what to buy based on an organisation’s environmental impact.
YES, through its turnkey solution (hostnpartner model), offers businesses in South Africa the opportunity to create youth jobs in this sector while enhancing their B-BBEE credentials.
YES spoke to conservation host partner, Africa Foundation and Conservation South Africa (CSA), to discuss the novel ways in which they are making environmental and economic impact.
“These two partners are really incredible partners who are able to give youth quality work experiences, which are not only transforming the lives of those youth but also the communities they come from,” says Farai Mubaiwa, chief partnerships officer at YES.
The YES approach to conservation starts with the development of people, and we ensure that our partners’ methodologies reflect this.
YES has a proven track record of creating meaningful, measurable impact for country company and youth: In just two and half years, over 61,155 work experiences have already been created for youth, injecting R3.5 billion back into the economy directly through youth wallets, with no government funding. Through the YES mobile applications, youth have logged 10 million learning minutes in modules that teach them soft skills and work readiness. Over 650 B-BBEE level ups have already been awarded.
The YES turnkey solution works with 31 YES-vetted host partner across South Africa to place youth. If a corporate cannot place youth in their own organisation, they have the option to place youth with our host partner. The YES host partners are generally NGOs working in communities, which means youth do not have to travel far for work and they can play an important part in building their own communities.
The turnkey solution is a true one-stop-solution for organisations looking to make all of the impact with none of the admin. As Mubaiwa explains: “Beyond the hosting, YES host partners are responsible for recruiting the youth, screening the youth, collecting the documentation of these youth, placing them into quality work experiences, guiding the journeys of these youth, supervising them, ensuring that they are engaging on their YES apps, offboarding the youth, and facilitating absorption on behalf of the corporate.”
YES host partners are monitored and evaluated by a host partner scorecard, which measures performance based on both quantitative and qualitative elements. Marc Ashton, marketing and business development consultant at YES, commenting on the rigour of the host partner monitoring and recruitment process noted, “We always talk about head and heart: the heart says we want to do good things and have social impact, but the head says we’ve got to get these things right and we’ve got to constantly re-evaluate ourselves.”
Mubaiwa says that the skills youth learn through the host partner go so much further than doing YES for B-BBEE, “These skills actually transform the lives of young people on the ground and gives them a sense of purpose, transferring new skills and new sets of information to them.” Calculate your YES target here.
CSA is committed to helping society adopt a more sustainable approach to development and one that considers and values nature at every turn. YES Youth placed with CSA work on various projects related to pollution, food and water security, climate resilience and in eco-tourism.
Behind CSA, there is impact on the ground, as evidenced by YES Youth Phumeza in the Eastern Cape:
“The YES experience has changed me a lot already. I can tell my community how to keep livestock healthy, and I am leading by example to my family and my community as a whole. I’ve learnt how to be responsible when it comes to nature, and I now know how to treat animals in a good way.”
Africa Foundation, a relatively new YES host partner, has been operating in Africa for around 30 years. It’s active in 73 communities across South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia. In South Africa, the foundation partners with 27 communities across two regional nodes in Northern KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Mpumalanga.
“Africa Foundation works at the interface between conservation and community development,” says CEO Andrew Venter. They partner with hospitality group, andBeyond, to support a three-pronged sustainable development approach focusing on: The care of the people, the land, and wildlife.
If you want to become a part of the movement that conserving futures, calculate your youth target here.
Want to know more about YES? Click here.
Download our Conservation B-BBEE booklet here.